Monthly Archives: November 2009

I am a bag making machine. I made two more today, both bigger than the three I made earlier in the week, for a grand total of 5 bags. *View the first bag here and the second 2 here.

The black and white sewing themed bag is lined in a bright green rough silk I recycled from a tablecloth I was never going to use. (We don’t even eat at our dining room table, it’s mostly used for sewing and crafting.)

The second bag I made today is an artistic collaboration Sam helped me design for a special person who’s birthday is coming up very soon. Here’s a sneak peek, but that’s all I can post until it has been properly gifted next week. =)

*Again, you can find the tutorial to make these bags here. (I added straps to mine so they are easier to carry.)

And now I’m going to watch some tv and enjoy the few hours left of my Thanksgiving holiday. Cheers to long, productive weekends!

I made two more bags today, these ones are quite a bit bigger than the first one. I made the bags together, assembly line style, taking a total of about 2 1/2 hours. Thankfully I didn’t have to rip any mistake seams this time. I’m getting better at this whole sewing thing! The interior fabric of both bags is a gorgeous fire engine red silk that was surprisingly slippery to work with, though not impossible and well worth the extra effort.

The mannequin fabric bag is now holding the sewing notions that were overflowing my sewing basket, and the sparkley space bag was made for another person on my Christmas list. As always, click the photos to view them full size.

Sadly, Gir didn’t make an appearance during this photoshoot. He was too busy sleeping.

You can find the tutorial to make these bags here. (I added straps to mine so they are easier to carry.)

I sewed a bit today and managed to make a pretty awesome bag with fabric I picked out of my stash for a certain person on my Christmas list this year. I followed the informative and easy to follow photo tutorial here on ModernQuiltLove.wordpress.com. As an afterthought, I ripped one seam and added a strap handle (the box alone felt awkward to carry), making it easy to grab and go.

Gir decided to make a rare appearance during the late-night photoshoot.

About a year ago ago, my enabler friend Kristin introduced me to the world of crochet blankets. Why, you might ask, would I have been interested in crochet blankets when I was already an established knitter? Simple - crochet is faster than knitting. Much faster. Think: wobbling around an ice skating  rink hand-in-hand with your first boyfriend versus a trained Olympic speed skater.

Therefore, when making a blanket of behemoth proportion, it will take roughly twice as long to knit the same amount of fabric than to crochet. If you’ve ever knit anything at all you understand how slow knitting is. Rewarding, yes, but also slow. And very good at building (and testing) patience.

Kristin and I had purposely picked a popular and simple crochet blanket pattern called Babette, shown below.

The blanket is built by crocheting hundreds of basic granny squares of various sizes and colors before sewing them together and finishing with an afterthought border. It seemed to be the perfect Learn To Crochet project and I was excited. After a few days of sitting outside in the sunshine with Kristin, a hook, and some stash yarn, it was clear that I just wasn’t getting it. I quickly became frustrated, tossed away the hook, and anxiously picked up my knitting - something I was familiar with. Something I felt confident doing. Something that actually worked for me.

Around lunchtime yesterday I decided it’s high time I learned to love the hook. As an experienced knitter, the idea of wielding one blunt hook in place of my trusty pointed sticks intimidates the hell out of me. Which is silly, considering I was taught to crochet basic squares and scarves as a little girl. I even crocheted a scarf as recent as 2004, leading one to assume that the technique would come back to me like a long lost memory.

So far - even with a LOT of help from Kristin - I’m not doing so well. I haven’t gotten past the first round of a basic granny square. It is entirely possible that I was simply born a knitter and not a hooker. But before I give up hooking altogether, I’m going to give it another solid try. I mean really, how hard can it be to hook a line and sink it?!

WE HAVE - yep, you guessed it - HEAT!!

I’m still freezing as I type this, bundled in 2 hoodies and a hand knit hat, but we have real, actual HEAT! Coming out of our HEATER VENTS! Just like it’s magically supposed to! Hooray!!

*happy dance*

As you can probably tell, I’m one happy camper. And our house will soon be toasty warm once again. =)

List 5 foods you’ve never eaten:

• Escargo
• Shark fin soup
• Frog legs
• Snake
• Kimchi

List 5 places you’d like to visit:

• Hawaii
• New York City
• Spain
• Europe
• Disney World

List 5 things you hope to do in your lifetime:

• Visit Heather’s grave in Ohio
• Learn to cook
• Work out at least 3 times a week
• Go skinny dipping in broad daylight
• Own a motorcycle

List 5 things you would never wear:

• Skinny jeans (you need to be skinny to wear them)
• Light denim or acid wash jeans
• Vans slip-on shoes
• Belly-bearing tops
• Shorts that stop above the knee

List 5 things you never want said to you:

• “___[insert loved one here]____ just passed away…”
• “Ugly Betty has been canceled.”
• “You’re fired.”
• “I’m sorry, but your motor’s blown.”
• “You are under arrest.”

*Inspired by QuizMeme.com

• Our furnace is out, the house was already down to 57 degrees this morning as I got ready for work. Sam has the week off for the holidays, so he’s going to call about getting someone out to fix it this afternoon. Here’s hoping someone has an open schedule today. Sigh.

• In my hurry to get out of the warm shower, dressed, and into the warm car, I forgot my glasses. I’m squinting as I read this, and expect to have a full-blown headache by noon.

• I have one last car payment to make and I’ve not only forgotten to mail it, but I haven’t even wrote the check yet. And not because I don’t have the funds to cover it, but because I forgot. One payment away from owning my car, I forgot to make my payment. Awesome. I guess I’ll be mailing it after work this evening. With my luck, I’ll be paying a late fee as well.

As many of you know, last summer I took a stand and did my own NOH8 Campaign self portrait, shown below.

An excerpt from the NOH8 Campaign’s About page explains the cause behind these stylized portraits declaring an intolerance for sexual and racial discrimination against gay and interracial relationships and marriages:

“The NOH8 Campaign is a photo project & silent protest created by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska and partner Jeff Parshley in direct response to the passage of Proposition 8.

The campaign started with portraits of everyday Californians who  support Marriage Equality and soon rose to celebrities, military personnel, brothers & sisters, law enforcement, lesbian mothers, directors, politicians, newlyweds, and more. Photos features subjects with duct tape over their mouths symbolizing their voices not being heard and NOH8 painted on one cheek in protest.”

For starters, I’d like to update my NOH8 photo, if nothing else just to include the signature white shirt instead of the grey t-shirt I wore last summer. (I never wear white, and will have to buy a white shirt for this photo specifically.) I would also like to extend an invitation to any and all of my friends in the Portland and surrounding areas who would like to do a NOH8 Campaign style photoshoot during the next few weeks.

As a participant, all I ask is that you:

• Wear a blank white shirt of any style (if you don’t have one let me know and we’ll make it happen)

• Pose with duct tape over your mouth (I promise it won’t hurt, the trick is to stick the tape to your jeans a few times to get most of the sticky off) and NOH8 written on your cheek in eyeliner (don’t worry, it washes off)

• Allow me to post the best photo from your shoot on my website (you decide if you’d like your name displayed or not)

• Consider allowing the best photo from your shoot to be submitted to the campaign

If you know me personally and this sounds like something you’d be interested in, leave me a comment, send me a text, or shoot me an email and we’ll make it happen! :)

• We need to talk.

• A Starbucks barista was standing outside in the rain, smiling and chatting his way down the drive thru line while handing out gingerbread samples and it made me smile.

• If you want something bad enough, go after it with all you’ve got.

• I’m excited for the weekend to start because I’m buying fabric and starting the quilt I’ve designed for my grandparents in Alaska.

• Massachusetts has a proposed 5% sales tax on elective cosmetic surgery; I think that sounds completely ludicrous and unnecessary - unless they plan to impose this sales tax on ALL elective cosmetic services  including haircuts, manicures, and waxing. Because if not, taxing just cosmetic surgery is discriminatory and unjust.

• Getting together with friends and family makes for a happy holiday.

• And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to Kristin’s birthday party that includes go-karts, laser tag, and mini golf, tomorrow my plans include sleeping in for as long as my body will allow and Sunday, I want to get some laundry done!

*Inspired by FridayFill-Ins.